Interview with Marty Friedman: «I love meeting fans, but I hate making them pay for that.»

Marty Friedman gave us an exclusive interview to talk about his new album, «Drama,» his autobiographical book, «Dreaming Japanese,» and his upcoming South American tour, «Live Drama Tour 2025,» where he will be accompanied by his Japanese musicians Chargeee (drums), Naoki Morioka (guitar), and Wakazaemon (bass).

Friedman, who lives in Japan, shared details about the recording and writing process for «Drama,» as well as a sneak peek at his setlist for his South American concerts.

We thank Oregon Producciones for facilitating this interview. Marty Friedman will perform at the Manuel A. Segura Theater in Lima, Peru, on Saturday, June 14th. Tickets available at Joinnus.

New Album, New Book, New Tour
Let’s start by talking a little about the new album, tell us a little about Drama, your 18th solo album,
1) How was the recording process for this one?
This was my favorite recording experience of all my albums. We recorded in Italy and I ate delicious pizza twice every single day!

2) Did you went into the studio with a preconceived idea of the songs, or did you enter the studio and let the inspiration hit you?
Everything was prepared in almost every detail beforehand. Of course once in the studio, I got inspired to change things, add things and explore new ideas.

3) After a 40-year career, what inspires you to keep composing new music? Do you feel like your best work is still yet to come?

I am sure my best music is yet to come, and honestly I don`t know what keeps me inspired. I am normally a pretty lazy guy, but when it comes to my music, I suddenly become an intense workaholic. There is something inside me driving me to create music.

You are on tour promoting a new album but with a discography as extensive as yours, I imagine that choosing a setlist must be a nightmare,

Its not really that hard, since I dont have any real “hits” haha. I just choose songs that allow the bands performance to have big contrasts, with great peaks and valleys.

4) How do you keep the perfect balance in your setlist? Considering you’re in a promotional tour for Drama and you must play songs from the album, but at the same time, you want to please the fans who want to listen to the classics.

Right now we are playing 3 songs from the Drama album. We have 2 others from Drama that we have also played. The Drama album is almost all ballads, so I think three is enough ballads to fit in a set list. We love the contrast of playing extremely heavy and aggressive music to make the ballads have even more impact.

5) What do you think are the challenges of being a touring musician today in 2025? In your opinion, what has changed comparing to your earliest tours?

The “extras” like VIP services and special promotions have become very normal. I love meeting fans, but I hate making them pay for that. However if you dont make them pay for that fan service, everyone will line up to meet you and there is no time for the show. So it takes some getting used to, to make everyone happy they came.

Now apart from musician, composer, and producer, we can also say now that you are published author. Your autobiography “Dreaming Japanese” came out a little over a month ago.

6) What inspired you to tell your story?
It`s hard to think of your own story as “interesting”, but I understood that my life has been extremely different from other people and even other rock musicians. So I thought it would be nice to share my private moments and stories with everyone.

7) Do you feel like your fans have preconceptions of yours that needed to be clarified
or it was something of cathartic process for you?
Yes to both of them. People will be very surprised to get to know me. I have always been extremely private in the press, never talking about my personal life in public. I usually only talked about a new album, a tour, or a TV show, etc. So now for the first time, I open up about family stuff, groupies, girlfriends, and wives, and the personal struggles behind every piece of music I have released.

8) How is the process of writing an autobiography like? Did you work on it alone?

I wrote it myself, but I had a great co-writer and editor, who helped me trim off the fat, and had me get into more detail about the stories they found intriguing.

9) How do you choose which stories to tell and which to leave out?
I let the co-writer and editor judge it for me. 9 times out of 10 their ideas steered me in a great direction. At the end I think the book is extremely fun and easy to read.

10 ) How would you describe the Marty Friedman sound?
It smells very much like me…I cant avoid it…whatever I do, for better or worse, sounds exactly like me. So if you like it, thats wonderful!

11 ) What can we expect from the concert you are going to give in Lima this coming June 14?
I have only been to Peru once before, and it was a very special day for me, I remember it very well. The people were wonderful, girls beautiful, and everyone was so friendly and supportive of my music. It has been far too long since I have been there last. I am extremely excited to share Peru with my band, and even more excited to share my band with all of you!!

Thank YOU for your time !
Thank you!!!